Abstract
Children can expect physical and mental growth through play. For children, play is an essential action. However, challenging and unexpected actions sometimes cause danger. In this study, we report 60 cases of oral and maxillofacial trauma in children caused only by playground equipment.
The breakdown of the 60 cases was 37 boys and 23 girls （male：female ratio of 1.6：1）. The age ranged from 1 to 11 years and no injuries were observed in children of 12 years old. The most frequent age was 4 and 5 years old with 12 cases. Younger children of 1 to 5 years old accounted for 75.0％ of the total. The most common playground equipment that caused injuries was the pull-up bars in 12 cases, followed by the swings in 10 cases and the slide in 9 cases. By gender and type of playground equipment, there were many injuries in boys on the slide and seesaw, whereas there were many injuries in girls on the pull-up bars. The causes of injuries were falls in 31 cases, followed by collisions in 25 cases, with fall and collisions accounting for more than 90％.
The most common injuries were soft tissue injuries alone （41 cases）, followed by tooth＋soft tissue injuries （15 cases）, and tooth injuries （4 cases）. All cases were minor injuries, with none requiring hospitalization or long-term treatment.
For children, danger is also essential for growth, and it is not necessary to eliminate all dangers. There are other dangers for children to experience, and failures in the playground provide an opportunity for the child to learn to understand, foresee and avoid danger. However, the danger of leaving serious residual disability or losing life must be avoided. It is important to create an environment where children can play safely by grasping and understanding the actual situation of damage caused by playground equipment through such examinations.
